


A Dusty, Silver Helmet

by Nuroku25



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Adoption, Angst and Feels, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, Force Sensitivity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:47:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22072000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nuroku25/pseuds/Nuroku25
Summary: “My time has come,” his master closed his eyes and took a deep breath, face towards the sky and a small, genuine smile gracing his features. “I can’t wait to see you again.”
Relationships: Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 168





	A Dusty, Silver Helmet

**Author's Note:**

> Heads-up!
> 
> This is my first story i'm posting on AO3 so i'm sorry if it's not the greatest :p  
> The Planet is just a random planet I made up so if it doesn't sound familiar that's why. <3  
> It's also only partially beta-read
> 
> Mando'a:
> 
> Buir - Parent  
> Ad'ika - Child

“Master? Are you awake?” Eryn said quietly, tapping his knuckles against the wooden door softly.

No answer.

“Master?” The boy slowly pushed open the door after realizing it had been left ajar. He poked his head into the dimly lit room and saw that his master wasn’t in bed, which was odd because no one had seen him leave.

It was a small room, with a decent sized bed for his master and a dome ceiling. A once colorful rug lay on the clay floor while the silken white sheets of the bed looked untouched. Some dried plants and old scrolls hung from the walls while a wooden chair held a somewhat large leather box opposite the bed.

A side table stood by the right of the bed with a lightsaber and a burning candle that looked as though it was almost completely melted in its holder.

“My Padawan, yes?” A voice called from the small balcony on the other side of the room. “Left on my table, the tray you carry can be.”

Eryn entered the room and left the small tray of food on the side table, the candle’s small flame barely flickering.

The small balcony wasn’t that impressive, but it had an excellent view of the waterfalls of Banu, with an expertly carved railing and vines that intertwined in its columns. Each vine had either purple or pink flowers, and they stretched up and along the top of the arch that connected to the main room. A small and smooth, silver, basket-like chair with a soft red cushion lay in its center. In said chair rest his master, with his regular brown robe and long green ears.

To the right of the platform, a tree, covered in small, pink flowers, sprouted from a crack in the building’s wall, its branches reaching up and over them.

“Master,” Eryn said, folding his hands behind his back and rolling on his heels. “The other Jedi, as have I, have been looking for your presence as of recently, and yet you have stayed away in here. I do not mean to pry, Master, but if I may be so bold, why is this?”

His master didn’t give a true response, but gave a slight hum, and, raising his right three-clawed hand above him, beckoned the younger to his side. Eryn did as such and looked down towards the master Jedi with respect and curiosity, for he knew that there must be a sensible reason for his strange change in behavior.

At last, his master gave a sigh, and looked up to his Padawan with large, chocolate eyes. The lines of age and time had made their mark, and a light dusting of white and grey hairs grew from his head. But Eryn could practically see the wisdom in his eyes and feel the gentle grip of the force flowing off his master. He was old, much older than he, and still he could tell that his sage appearance was also a disguise for a more energetic and youthful core. He had never personally seen that side of him, but he could tell it was there.

“The stories of my younger self, have I told?” The older said, gripping his claws together and ears gently drooping. Eryn was surprised, but hid this emotion with a slight bow of the head.

“No, I do not think you have.”

“Hmm,” his master turned his head away, “and read the texts I have written, have you?”

“I’m afraid to admit that I have not.”

His master stayed silent for a minute before looking back out at the ever moving waterfalls, “Grab a chair and sit, you must.”

Eryn did as he was told, going back into the room and removing the large box from the wooden chair and moving it to his master’s side. A few of the local bird-like creatures flew past the waterfalls, their blue and green feathers shimmering as Eryn took a seat. Once he had done so, his master started to speak once more.

He spoke of a bounty hunter, a human covered in silver armor from head to toe. Beskar, he called it, and he had been sent to steal him, just to give him away. . .  
_  
* * *_

_…_

_…_

__What’s that sound? __

_I yawned and opened my eyes slowly, only to see the pure blackness that I’d seen every other time I’d awoken. I’d gotten used to it by then, and I’d gotten used to sometimes feeling for those strange, slimy creatures that jumped far and were quite tasty._

_I wasn’t used to the strange sound I could hear from outside my dark pocket of space. I’d only heard it once, and back then it had not been a good sound. It was a sound followed by screams, wails and mournful sobs; stone crumbling, fire crackling and metal bending. That was the time I’d first been introduced to true darkness._

_I cowered, pulling up my rough, brown blanket to hide my face, only to hear the sounds stop and be replaced by the whine of the pod I inhabited open. Then there were voices. Voices that didn’t sound malicious and ready to kill for sport._

_I slowly retracted my claw to see bright light. I had missed it, as I had been kept from it for a long while, but what kept it at bay and not too blinding were the two shiny creatures I saw standing before me. One had rust and a stiff, skinny frame, while the other was muscled and shone like freshly polished silver._

_The silver one was interesting. I could feel the force wrapping around them protectively and giving off a beautiful light. This one is not bad, it was saying. This one will protect._

_The shiny one suddenly shot the taller, and it made me flinch slightly, but I was not sacred. For the force had faith that he would protect me, and I him. So when he reached out a gloved finger, I reached out a tiny claw to meet it.  
_  
* * *

Eryn listened faithfully the entire time his master spoke, though when he stopped he looked down towards the older whose expression was one of gentle sorrow. Eryn could feel him running through all his old memories through his head, and a sad smile showed itself as he rested his claws on his legs.

“So, you were supposed to be experimented on due to this mandalorian giving you away, but then he stole you from the people he had stolen you for previously?” Eryn asked, his curiosity getting the best of him. He wasn’t the oldest and most experienced Padawan, and so he still had the curiosity and ability to accumulate many questions like that of a child.

“True, it is,” his master said gently, his voice full of nostalgia. “Be here, I would not, if not for him.”

“Wait, so why are you a Jedi and not a mandalorian?”  
_  
* * *_

_Din looked down at the small sleeping bundle on his lap. They were back on the Razor Crest after just defeating Moff Gideon on Nevarro and currently gliding slowly in empty space. His limbs throbbed and cried when he moved them, and his head still hurt like hell though it had been dulled a bit thanks to IG-11._

_However, thoughts still managed to run through his tired mind faster than before he got on the ship, as he now had time to rest and actually process all that happened.  
_  
“You wish me to train this thing?”

“It is to weak. It would die. You have no choice. You must reunite it with its own kind.”  
_  
Those words kept spinning around in his head, over and over._ How am I supposed to reunite you if I don’t even know what you are? _He thought sadly. He realized more and more every day just how little he knew about the odd, green and adorable child in his lap. He’d never seen something with his magical abilities._

_And with that, a new thought made itself known in his mind. If somebody found it strange that another was controlling things without touching them, wouldn’t they report it to someone?_

* * *

“Found, Maz Kanata had been. Trained by her, I was,” Eryn’s master said humbly.

Eryn looked down at him with slight surprise on his face. “But she wasn’t a Jedi.”

“Trained to protect myself from the darkside of the force, I was,” his master explained. “Trained myself through old texts from the Grey Jedi, I did alone. Convinced by Jedi to help train their young Padawans, I was.”

Eryn couldn’t hide his disbelief at his master’s words. “So, if you had refused, that means that you would never have had started to train me?”

“And many others,” his master nodded slowly, continually staring out at the waterfalls.

“So, what happened to the mandalorian?”

His master bowed his head then, turning his gaze to his claws. __

_* * *_

_When Din had found someone the same species as the child and tried to leave him with them, the child cried and screamed and cried some more. The older individual had said to take the child with him instead of leave alone. Din had thought at first that it was just because it didn’t want to bother with taking care of the child, but the individual said it was best for the child if he stayed with Din._

_And he had for a couple of years. Din taught him how to speak both regular speech and Mando’a. He raised and protected him like a father would his son. However, things would not be able to continue like that for long, as all things need to come to an end eventually._

_* * *_

_We were on Takodana again,_ Buir _getting a job from one of the many that stayed at Maz’s bar. I sat on his shoulder, arms inside my robe with my sleeves hanging limp at my sides, my face snuggled into the rough fabric and eyes closed. Content._

 _I always felt safest with him, and we both knew we would do anything to anything to protect each other. So when one of the walls exploded and people started screaming,_ Buir _wrapped his arms around my small frame while on his knees and elbows. I gave a small squeak that made him look down at me, and I saw myself almost perfectly on the shiny surface of his helmet._

 _As people fled, Maz came over and helped_ Buir _up, stabilizing him as I moved my arms back through their sleeves and placed a tiny claw on his Beskar chestplate. He didn’t seem injured, just slightly dazed, and I let out a coo when he hugged me to his chest._

 _“You must leave, and protect the child,” Maz said quickly, her hand on_ Buir’s _back and guided him to what was once the front door._

 _“I know,”_ Buir _said shakily, moving to cradle me in one arm and the other going for his blaster. “Will you be alright?”_

_“I’ll be fine, just go!” Maz said running off into the fight._

__Buir _did just that, firing at stormtroopers as he went or if they were just in his way. I gave a cry when something hit him in the back just as he was leaping over a giant block of stone. We both fell to the ground, stunned, and I tried to get up as quickly as possible. I scuttled over to him and he snatched me off the ground as he got back to his feet._

_He started to run again when he gave a yelp of pain and fell on his side, clutching my robe and holding me firmly to his chest. He turned slightly to look at the back of his knee, as did I. I could blood start to soak through his clothes and let out a whine of fear and worry._

_* * *_

_Din groaned as he struggled to his good leg, using a broken column to haul himself back up. He started to hobble back to his ship, just barely ignoring the child’s soft and worried cooing as he leaned against a tree. His body stiffened when he heard a voice._

_“Well well, Mando, looks like I can finally get my revenge.”_

_Din turned his head to his left to see Kell Draea, a human with currently two blasters pointed at him. The brunette was an ex-stormtrooper, and was one of the many on Nevarro when Moff Gideon had attacked. He had run into him a few times after the other had accused him of killing his best friend on that fateful day._

_“Now you’ve got nowhere to run.”_

_Din cursed to himself when he realized he’d forgotten his blaster somewhere behind him. Slowly, he reached to put down the child and raised his hands above his head._

_“I’m glad you’ve finally accepted your fate,” Kell said with a smirk, taking a few steps towards him without lowering his blasters. “The only thing that you don’t know is that I want more than your credits and armor.”_

_Din watched without moving, his knee screaming at him as he continued to put weight on it and the child looking up at him for confirmation._

_“I want you dead!”_

_Din flicked his finger towards Kell, informing the child to attack. Said person did just that, reaching out his hand and forcing one of Kell’s arms behind his back. The ex-trooper, however, used his other hand at the same time to fire at Din._

_The mandalorian gave out a cry, and as the shot hit a whistling bird left its containment and fired down upon the attacker. Kell gave a scream as the weapon shot towards him, effectively killing him and leaving his body to fall limp to the ground. Din, however, followed soon after._

_He backed up against a tree, a hand holding the small area that wasn’t covered in Beskar, a small area on his side._

_The child put his claws on Din’s side, and when the taller flinched he pulled them away, ears drooping and eyes wide. Though he was strong with the force, Din knew he was unable to do anything to heal him. He could see the heavy rise and fall of the child’s chest and knew he was tired. So when he tried to reach for the mandalorian’s knee instead, he pulled his hand back to see his glove soaked in crimson._

_His vision was blurry, and he could barely focus on the small green child as it looked around in a panic._

_“_ Buir _?” The child whimpered, crawling up to his side. “_ Buir _okay?”_

_Din moaned in pain as he shifted himself to sit more upright. He used his clean yet just as shaky hand to take the child and pull him up to his helmet._

_He didn’t say anything, just sat like that for a second as the child pressed his claws to the smooth metal, eyes closed and rubbing his now tearstained face against the Beskar._

_“_ Buir _, no go no go_ Buir _no. . .”_

 _Din gave a sad smile underneath his helmet. The guilt he felt was like none before and he felt like an idiot for letting himself get hurt. He had to be there for him and protect him like the_ Buir _he was. But that would be impossible, and the shame and sorrow washed over him in raging waves. All he could hope for was for his child to be safe._

 _“I. . . I l-love you_ Ad’ika _. . .”_

_* * *_

_I couldn’t stop my tears or pathetic whimpring._

_“_ Buir _, love you.”_

_It was when I didn’t get a response back that I opened my eyes and my breath hitched._

_“_ Buir _?” I spoke, my voice barely a whisper._

_No answer._

_“_ Buir _?_ Buir _!” I started to grow frantic, my tears flowing harder. “_ Buir _!”_

_I tried to shake the helmet, then with more force, but they weren’t answering. My heart pounded violently, and the hand that held me slowly dropped down, as did his head. I didn’t notice the blood from his wound soaking through my robe, and I didn’t realize I had started screaming._

_Two cool hands grabbed my midsection gently, but I didn’t feel them. I tugged on his chest plate that now dripped with my tears and yelled his name as though he would awake by hearing my pleas. The hands however started to move me away from the body, but my claws wouldn’t let go of the edge of the armor. They had to use effort in order to get me away, but my arms reached out for_ Buir’s _body still._

_My tears stung my eyes as I wailed, and when Maz hugged me to her chest I cried into her clothes. I screamed and yelled and hiccuped, my nose running with snot as I felt a hand rub my back soothingly. My ears drooped to their lowest point and I started to have trouble breathing with how much I sobbed._

_“_ Buir _. . .”_

* * *

Eryn sat silently as he waited for his master’s answer. The former seemed lost in thought, and the Padawan believed for a moment that he didn’t even hear him until he gave a response.

“One with the force, he is now,” his master said. “But again, I will see him.”

Eryn grew weary. “What are you saying, Master?”

“The chest from my room, bring it here.”

Eryn did as he was told and placed it beside the small, silver chair.

“Open it, you will.”

Eryn obeyed.

Inside was a dusty, silver helmet in perfect condition. His master grabbed it, his claws clinking against the Beskar, and brought it to his lap. He used a claw to wipe away some of the dust, and looked at his reflection with a sad smile.

“ _Buir_ , my time to join you, it is,” he said pressing his face against the smooth surface, a few tears running down his cheeks.

“Master?” Eryn tried, hand hesitantly out.

“Teach you, I now longer can,” his master said, raising his head again to look out at the gorgeous scenery. A breeze picked up, and the pink petals of the tree started to float down around them.

“Master?” Eryn’s voice grew small.

“My time has come,” his master closed his eyes and took a deep breath, face towards the sky and a small, genuine smile gracing his features. “I can’t wait to see you again.”

Eryn watched as his master’s body slowly disappeared in disbelief, but that emotion was soon changed to sorrowful respect and acceptance as he watched a pink flower petal land on the shiny Beskar helmet, underneath where the left eye would’ve been. And as Eryn left to inform the other Jedi that his master had gone, he noticed that the candle on the side table had completely burned out.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! <3


End file.
